Saturday, April 4, 1998Last modified at 12:50 a.m. on Saturday, April 4, 1998

Book highlights female contributions to U.S. democracy

AUSTIN (AP) -Susan B. Anthony's protest to Congress, asking it to remove a $100 fine against her for voting illegally, is there.

So is a petition from Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye, who disguised herself as a man to serve in the Civil War and later asked to have her alias removed from a list of deserters.

They're part of "Our Mothers Before Us: Women and Democracy, 1789-1920," a National Archives and Records Administration educational publication on women's contributions to democracy that will be in all Texas high schools by next year.

Texas is among a handful of places where private donations are bringing the publication to schools. Also getting copies are schools in Tennessee, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.

The publication is based on petitions written by women to Congress from the beginning of the federal government through the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. The binder full of material is highlighted by replicas of some of the original writings from the women.

"They gradually but permanently changed our country for the better," said Lucinda Robb, granddaughter of the late former President Lyndon B. Johnson and director of the project.

National Archives staff, interns and volunteers went through 20,000 cubic feet of records searching for women's writings and found 12,000 women's petitions to Congress.

Ms. Robb described the project Friday in the Texas Senate chamber, where deputy state education commissioner Felipe Alanis was presented with the publication. On-lookers included Ms. Robb's grandmother, former first lady Lady Bird Johnson.

Mrs. Johnson said she hopes the publication will enlarge students' understanding of society.

"I hope it means (to the students) that it just didn't come out all at once, full-fledged without work - that it took years to build, and we all stand on each other's shoulders," she said.

Somerville eighth-graders Marcus Douglas and Jeannie Kotch said the publication will help broaden views of history.

"I think it will be a good addition to what we already know about women. It will help the women have full equality with men - to show that they can do just as much stuff as we can," Douglas said.

Miss Kotch said the publication will "show another aspect" of American history.

Texas first lady Laura Bush, a former teacher and librarian, said the publication would be an "excellent teaching tool" and cited the importance of women in Texas' history.

"They built hopes, dreams and a future for us all," she said.

National contributors to the project include the Fannie Mae Foundation and Southwest Airlines Co. A grant of between $70,000 and $80,000 from the Brown Foundation Inc. in Houston is allowing the publication to be distributed to Texas high schools, said Richard Hunt of the National Archives.